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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26496700">And Judas Bought a Field</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polyhexian/pseuds/Polyhexian'>Polyhexian</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Humanformers: The Music AU [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>AU, Gen, Humanformers, POV Third Person, discussions of physical and emotional trauma, drug mention</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:15:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,618</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26496700</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polyhexian/pseuds/Polyhexian</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Rewind wakes up alone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chromedome/Rewind (Transformers), Cyclonus/Tailgate/Whirl (Transformers), Rewind &amp; Tailgate (Transformers), Tailgate/Whirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Humanformers: The Music AU [23]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859230</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>And Judas Bought a Field</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rewind did not awaken pleasantly.</p><p>When he first emerged from blissful unconsciousness his first thought was that he did not know where he was or how he had gotten there. His second was that there was a tube down his throat prevented him from speaking and that everything hurt. His third thought was an aching, miserable, yearning <em> where is Domey? </em></p><p>Relief came in waves. The tube came out, the morphine drip went up, and his memory trickled back in. A nurse with blonde hair and a warm smile filled him in on some of the details, and his immediate panic that Chromedome might be <em> dead </em>didn't last long. He'd been by every day, at least, but it was the middle of the night, so even though he hadn't answered his phone when they called, he was disappointed but not surprised. He would be by later. </p><p>Even <em> that </em> filled him with an ebbing tide of conflicting motions. He kept alternating between desperately craving Chromedome's presence and wanting to throttle him for being so fucking stupid. Overall, his desperation to be held was winning out and he thought maybe he just wanted to hold him and yell at him at the same time. </p><p>It was an obnoxiously long time before someone found his phone with the things he'd come in with and brought it to him. </p><p>He had way too many messages. He always had too many messages but this was way more than usual. He checked his texts first and ignored the bulk, scrolling down to text Chromedome. He hesitated for longer than he wanted to admit before he settled on <em> I'm awake. Please come</em>. </p><p>He didn't get a response. He shouldn't have been surprised, since he hadn't answered the call from the hospital. He scrolled up and found Tailgate's frantic messages instead. <em> I'm okay. Probably. You can come by if you want. </em> Something from Whirl, something from Rodimus. </p><p>Something from Eject.</p><p>He ignored that one, guilt in his stomach next to the pain. He scrolled through messages from acquaintances, collaborators, other influencers he knew well enough, and sent out a few quipped messages that he was awake and doing alright. </p><p>And then he checked his Twitter.</p><p>The onslaught of content put another feeling in his gut with the others, the conspiracy theories, the photos of his <em> house</em>, Chromedome's mugshot, the flood of DMs. His timeline seemed to have unanimously decided that Chromedome was some kind of monster, negligent at beat and abusive at worst and Rewind no longer wondered why Chromedome had stopped checking his phone. </p><p>Visitor hours came and Chromedome didn't. </p><p>He fidgeted anxiously until the nurse came back in to check on his IV. </p><p>"Excuse me," he said, hating the sound of his hoarse voice, "Is my boyfriend here? He's white, blonde, freakishly tall-"</p><p>"Oh, Chromedome?" she responded, "I'm sorry. He just left."</p><p>"He left?" Rewind repeated.</p><p>She hesitated. "I told him you were awake and he left. I'm sorry. I think maybe he went to get something from home?" </p><p>Rewind stared at her, uncertain if she was serious, before he frowned and turned back to his phone to send Chromedome another message. <em> Where are you? </em></p><p>He spent some time managing his social media, making fairly reserved updates that he was awake, him and Chromedome were alright, thank you for the support, I'll make a bigger post later, bla bla bla, going through the motions. He usually liked playing the social media game, but he felt nothing but exhausted today and wanted none of it. </p><p>"Rewind!" </p><p>He looked up when he heard his name as Tailgate leaned into the room, hospital visitor badge hanging from her shirt. She skirted the edge of the bed to grab a green lacquered chair and drag it away from the wall. </p><p>"God, it's good to see a familiar face," he wheezed, and dropped his phone to grab her hand. </p><p>"What am I, chopped liver?" Whirl asked from the doorway. </p><p>"You dragged your feet, sweetie," said Tailgate, without turning. </p><p>"Congrats on the bullet wound," Whirl said, still lingering near the door, "And on not dying."</p><p>"I was so worried about you," Tailgate shook her head, "I heard about it on the news and I tried calling Chromedome, but he didn't answer."</p><p>"I think he might be avoiding social media," Rewind told her, "I don't know where he is today."</p><p>"He's not been by?" Whirl asked.</p><p>"Not since I woke up."</p><p>"That's weird," said Tailgate, "Do you know how long before you can go home?"</p><p>"I woke up like four hours ago," he coughed, "I have no idea." Rewind paused, and then picked up his phone. "Will you call Brainstorm for me and ask if Chromedome's with him? My voice is shot."</p><p>"Of course!" she took his phone and thumbed through the contacts before she found Brainstorm's number and put the phone to her ear. "Brainstorm? Hey, it's Tailgate. I'm with Rewind at the hospital, and- yeah. Yeah, at the hospital. The hospital? Yeah. No. No? Did you not hear about the break in? Do you not read the news? Like, ever? No. No. No, he- yeah. He got shot but he's okay. I mean he's in the hospital, but he's awake now. Did you- yeah. Is Chromedome with you? Mmhmm. No, I don't think so. Uh, I think he broke his arm or something, but I haven't spoken to him. Okay, hang on." </p><p>Tailgate turned back toward Rewind and leaned away from the phone. "He says he hasn't spoken to Chromedome in a week. He thought he was ignoring him."</p><p>"Can you ask him to go check my house? He has a key."</p><p>"Yeah, um, Rewind wants me to ask you if you can run by his house and see if Chromedome is there. He says you have a key. Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Thanks. Okay, yeah, I'll probably see you when you come by. Yeah. Bye." She hung up and handed him his phone back. "He says he's going to check and then he will come by."</p><p>"They said you can only have two visitors at a time," Whirl added, "We left Cyc downstairs."</p><p>"Cyclonus is here, too?"</p><p>"Everybody is so worried about you, Rewind!" Tailgate cried, in earnest, eyes glimmering and moist, "I was afraid you were going to die!" </p><p>Rewind's stomach rolled and for a moment he thought he might throw up, but he squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed and the feeling passed. </p><p>"I thought I was going to die," he murmured with a shudder, "Only for a minute, though. Then I passed out." </p><p>"That must have been terrifying," Tailgate said, squeezing his hand, "I can't even imagine."</p><p>"I felt so much worse when Chromedome came home," he admitted, "And relieved at the same time. I know that's terrible."</p><p>"It's not terrible."</p><p>"I'm so fucking mad at him!" he burst, voice breaking and annoying him even more, "He <em> lied </em> to me!"</p><p>"About what?"</p><p>"He's on drugs again!" Rewind groaned, "and Christ, he doesn't have a job, he's been spending <em> my </em> money on drugs and can't even <em> tell </em> me about it. And then his fucking dealer breaks into my house!"</p><p>"You know who it was?" Whirl asked.</p><p>"Uh," Rewind frowned and squeezed his eyes shut, thinking, "Chromedome said his name was Overlord."</p><p>Whirl straightened up, shoulders folding back. "Right."</p><p>"What?" Rewind asked, "Who is he?"</p><p>"Nobody," Whirl dismissed, "I'm gonna go sit downstairs with Cyc."</p><p>"Hang on, Whirl!" Rewind cried, and she paused in the doorway, hand kneading the frame anxiously before she turned back in. "Do you know him?"</p><p>"...Yeah," she said, without making eye contact, "Used to."</p><p>"From your old friends?" Tailgate asked gently.</p><p>"...Yeah," said Whirl, "He's dangerous."</p><p>"Yeah, he shot me."</p><p>"Don't mess with that guy," Whirl said, "I'm gonna go downstairs. Holler if you need me."</p><p>Tailgate frowned sadly as she left and sighed before she turned back to Rewind. "Whirl is still really triggered by talking about her old life," she said softly, "She's doing better, but talking about gangs always sets her off. I was surprised she wanted to come up here at all. I didn't think she could handle the whole bullet wound, thing, but I think she really likes you."</p><p>"I genuinely can't tell half the time," Rewind frowned.</p><p>"She really appreciates that you gave her a job," Tailgate hesitated, "...And so do I. Thank you, again, for that. It's been good for her."</p><p>"She does good camerawork," Rewind admitted, "And I always feel a little safer when she's around to punch anyone who hassles me," he laughed, breath wheezy.</p><p>"Maybe she can rough Chromedome up for you," Tailgate smiled.</p><p>"Tempting," Rewind smiled back wearily.</p><p>"I read online he already broke his arm," she said, "Untying himself."</p><p>Rewind frowned and knit his brows together. "I'll ask him."</p><p>"Are you doing alright?" she prompted, "You seem like you're taking this really well."</p><p>"You know me," he sighed, "I pack it all down with jokes."</p><p>"I know."</p><p>Rewind found it easy to talk to Tailgate. They'd been friends for years now, since before he'd really hit it big as a YouTuber. She'd always understood him in a way he didn't always feel like people did. </p><p>He didn't even realize how much time had passed until he heard footsteps at the door and Brainstorm emerged, expression past stressed, a crumpled paper clutched in one hand. He stood motionless just inside the room, like he was afraid to come any further.</p><p>"What?" Rewind asked.</p><p>"It's Chromedome," Brainstorm whispered, voice shaking, as he clutched the paper he'd brought with him against his chest.</p><p>Rewind stared at him, a bad feeling crawling up his spine despite the morphine dulling the sensation there. "What about Chromedome?"</p>
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